Aspen Institute Publications
Aspen Institute publications are listed below. Many are available for purchase through Google Checkout, a secure system for handling credit card transaction online. For assistance with ordering publications, please contact our Publications office by email or by phone at (410) 820.5433. Please note: Orders are shipped two times a week from our warehouse in Queenstown, MD, on the Eastern Shore.
Summary Report from the Aspen Consultation on Health, Food Security and Population in the Post-2015 Development Agenda
In January 2013, the Summary Report from the Aspen Consultation on Health, Food Security and Population in the Post-2015 Development Agenda was submitted to each of the UN task teams charged with advising the Secretary General's High Level Panel on the issues of health, food security, population dynamics, inequalities, education and environmental sustainability.
The Report was a synthesis of a consulation that took place in December 2012, when Aspen Global Health and Development convened a distinguished group of public- and private-sector experts to provide input on the post-2015 development agenda. Participants focused on the interrelated issues of health, food security and population dynamics, but the wide-ranging conversation encompassed many of this century's most pressing challenges.
The recommendations of the Aspen Consultation Summary Report were particularly visible in the draft report by the Task Team of the Global Thematic Consultation on Health, including in the Task Team's illumination of the linkages between reproductive health and other development sectors:
"The following example illustrates the multiple benefits that universal access to reproductive health services and protection of reproductive rights would bring. People's, and especially women’s, right to decide the number of children they wish to have (and are able to afford) is a basic human right. Countries that have fully supported this right tend to have a lower total fertility rate. Smaller families benefit women's and children's health and make it easier for health systems in low resource contexts to serve their populations. Among other things, having fewer children empowers women to participate in society, complete their education, and access formal employment, giving them an independent income. It also contributes to human development by reducing household poverty. Smaller families slow population growth, which in turn reduces demand for water, food, and energy; alleviate pressures on education and the environment; diminish social conflict and state fragility; and reduce climate change and mitigate its impact."
(Draft Report of the Task Team of the Global Consultation on Health in the Post-2015 Agenda, p. 15)
Partners for a New Beginning 2013 Status Report
As Partners for a New Beginning (PNB) concludes its second year, it is with great excitement that we will present our 2013 Status Report highlighting the collective work of the initiative and its partners around the world.
Income Patching among Microentrepreneurs
How are microentrepreneurs combining self- and wage employment in today’s economic context? This issue of our Trendlines series uses data from FIELD’s microTracker client outcomes survey to analyze how “income patching” has been used by microenterprise program clients in recent years. The brief publication discusses topics such as characteristics of patchers and their business outcomes, including hours worked, changes in revenues, and the creation of paid work for others.
Aspen Guide for Using Labor Market Data to Improve Student Success
Community colleges have a unique opportunity to enable students to acquire the skills they need to land good jobs with strong wages, but colleges can only fulfill this promise if they are taking advantage of available data to tailor their educational programs to current labor market needs and measure the labor market outcomes of their graduates. This guide explains how colleges can improve student labor market success after graduating, offering concrete examples and describing six data sets that colleges can use today.
Electricity: Seeking Progress Amid Uncertainty
The 2012 Forum, “Electricity: Seeking Progress amid Uncertainty,” was chaired by Ernest J. Moniz, Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems, and Director of the Energy Initiative at MIT. Topics included regulatory issues affecting the financial model of utilities, the obstacles to the moves toward greater energy efficiency, the challenge of meeting energy and water needs simultaneously, factors affecting utility choices between coal and gas, and the challenges of financing new development.
Civil Society Advocacy in Uganda: Lessons Learned
Over several decades – and with increasing intensity in recent years – the non-governmental organization (NGO) sector in Uganda has participated in vigorous efforts to shape public policy. The emergence of such civil society advocacy in Uganda, as one commentator notes, refl ects the growing and welcome ability of civil society “to occupy space inadvertently ignored by government.” This study underscores the potential for charitable service delivery groups and rights-based organizations to bring their knowledge of real human needs to bear on the policies that constrain equitable access to services and fair treatment under law. Co-published with the Uganda National NGO Forum and featuring a thoughtful foreword by its director, Richard Ssewakiryanga, this study identifies cross-cutting issues and lessons learned from four case studies commissioned by the Forum. The campaigns studied span a range of issues, time frames, and levels of contribution to the desired policy impact. Discussion questions following this overview and each case study may inspire deeper refl ection on the role of civil society advocacy in Uganda and in other settings.
Implementing the Common Core State Standards: A Primer on "Close Reading of Text"
To assist teachers in understanding and employing the Common Core instructional emphasis on Close Reading in the classroom, this primer addresses the following key questions:
1) What is Close Reading of text, and what are its essential attributes? How, and for what purposes, should teachers employ this strategy?
2) What is the role of background knowledge in the development of reading comprehension, and when should teachers activate and/or provide background knowledge?
3) What should teachers and district leaders consider about Close Reading as they prepare to implement it in practice?
Freedom and Connectivity: Advancing the Freedom to Communicate in the Americas
This report addresses critical deficits in connectivity and the freedom to communicate in the Western Hemisphere. The report highlights connectivity, competition, censorship and protection of journalists as key areas for action and calls on government leaders to move communications issues to the top of national agendas and partner with other societal stakeholders to develop digital infrastructure, tools and human capacity. The report cites specific opportunities for action in Mexico, where a new government will be sworn in on December 1, 2012. It highlights the need for markets, regulatory and policy structures, and attitudes to "change to align with the new realities of a global digital age."
